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Chillicothe’s newest police officer comes from a police family and is excited to be back in the police line of work.
Carl Brown, 34, a native of Henry, jumpstarted his career in the police field by enlisting in the U.S. Army.
“I really wanted to be a police officer, but you can’t do that as an 18-year-old,” said Brown, which is why he enlisted in the military.
With his dad, named Carl Brown also, an Illinois State trooper, and his mom, Sandi Riley, a dispatcher, he grew up with both family and their friends stemming from Illinois State Police District 8.
“I think I learned the phonetic alphabet before the regular alphabet,” Brown said with a chuckle. He did ride-alongs during high school, and still finds people who remember his father, who now lives in Jacksonville, Ill.
While he was at the Police Training Institute, people knew his dad from his days as a trooper from the 1970s through 1992, and even some around town used to live nearby when his dad lived in Rome.
Upon high school graduation, he was off to Alabama to report to military police school. Serving for five years, Brown was stationed in Germany for two years and Atlanta, Ga., for three years.
After he was done with his service, he went back to Germany, where he “fell” into a job of training soldiers. He also wanted to spend some time sightseeing and traveling around the area. When bases began closing in 2006, Brown found himself in a transitional time.
“I’d still be there if they hadn’t closed the bases down,” he said.
Brown decided to move back and visit with family. With his mom in Chillicothe and sisters in Henry, he was able to see
them more. He worked for a couple different stores in loss prevention while testing for the police department.
“I haven’t done law enforcement since 2001. But when Ken Kirkman (Chillicothe Police/Fire Commission chairman) called me, I was excited. When you do something you really like to do for a little while, and then it’s gone, you know you need to get back to that,” said Brown.
He said he is comfortable doing law enforcement work, and said it is nice for the department to have attention due to a new police officer in a department.
“When there’s someone new, people are curious and are typically friendly to them,” said Brown, adding that residents already have welcomed him and noticed he is the new officer, riding with Field Training Officer Rob Purcell.
“One thing I like about this is it’s not the same thing every day,” said Brown.
He and his wife, Jacky, and stepson, Andre, live in Peoria.
Chillicothe’s newest police officer comes from a police family and is excited to be back in the police line of work.
Carl Brown, 34, a native of Henry, jumpstarted his career in the police field by enlisting in the U.S. Army.
“I really wanted to be a police officer, but you can’t do that as an 18-year-old,” said Brown, which is why he enlisted in the military.
With his dad, named Carl Brown also, an Illinois State trooper, and his mom, Sandi Riley, a dispatcher, he grew up with both family and their friends stemming from Illinois State Police District 8.
“I think I learned the phonetic alphabet before the regular alphabet,” Brown said with a chuckle. He did ride-alongs during high school, and still finds people who remember his father, who now lives in Jacksonville, Ill.
While he was at the Police Training Institute, people knew his dad from his days as a trooper from the 1970s through 1992, and even some around town used to live nearby when his dad lived in Rome.
Upon high school graduation, he was off to Alabama to report to military police school. Serving for five years, Brown was stationed in Germany for two years and Atlanta, Ga., for three years.
After he was done with his service, he went back to Germany, where he “fell” into a job of training soldiers. He also wanted to spend some time sightseeing and traveling around the area. When bases began closing in 2006, Brown found himself in a transitional time.
“I’d still be there if they hadn’t closed the bases down,” he said.
Brown decided to move back and visit with family. With his mom in Chillicothe and sisters in Henry, he was able to see
them more. He worked for a couple different stores in loss prevention while testing for the police department.
“I haven’t done law enforcement since 2001. But when Ken Kirkman (Chillicothe Police/Fire Commission chairman) called me, I was excited. When you do something you really like to do for a little while, and then it’s gone, you know you need to get back to that,” said Brown.
He said he is comfortable doing law enforcement work, and said it is nice for the department to have attention due to a new police officer in a department.
“When there’s someone new, people are curious and are typically friendly to them,” said Brown, adding that residents already have welcomed him and noticed he is the new officer, riding with Field Training Officer Rob Purcell.
“One thing I like about this is it’s not the same thing every day,” said Brown.
He and his wife, Jacky, and stepson, Andre, live in Peoria.
